Literary Aspects of The Martian Chronicles

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Transcript of Literary Aspects of The Martian Chronicles

Literary Aspects of The Martian Chronicles Bradbury's writing style consists of a more elevated type of science fiction form. He can seem very poetic in his writing, and many times his works will transform an everyday situation into sometimes sinister situations. Ray Bradbury Figurative language Simile Metaphor Personification Consonance A comparison of two items utilizing like or as • Pg. 144 - “There was a sigh, like autumn wind, from the porches.” – This quote comes from the chapter “The Watchers” and describes the reaction of the people to the beginning of the war on Earth when it suddenly bursts into flames. This quote compares the autumn wind to the sighing of the people watching on their porches. • Pg. 140 – “Elma blinked around and slowly, as the ship was sent into the wind again, she helped herself, as if in a dream, back up to a seat and slumped there like a sack of stones, saying no more.” – This quote comes from the chapter “The Off Season” and describes Sam Parkhill’s wife’s reaction when she is told to get back into his Martian sand ship and return to their hot dog stand. This quote compares Elma, Sam’s wife, to a sack of potatoes. •Pg. 118 – “’… my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder – there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters…’” – This quote comes from the chapter Usher II and describes how Mr. Stendahl’s house collapsed in on itself through a direct quote from Edgar Allen Poe. This quote compares the sound of the house collapsing to the voice of a thousand waters. A comparison of two items not utilizing like or as •Pg. 49 – “They had landed on an immense tomb. Here, a civilization had died.” – This quote comes from the chapter entitled “And the Moon be Still as Bright” and describes the state that the third expedition finds the planet in when they arrive. This quote compares the ancient Martian city to a giant tomb the houses the bodies of thousands. •Pg. 90 – “Far up the street the levee seemed to have broken. The black warm waters descended an engulfed the town. Between the blazing white banks of the town stores, among the tree silences, a black tide flowed.” – This quote comes from the chapter entitled “Way in the Middle of the Air” and describes all of the African Americans swarming to try to board the rocket ships travelling to Mars. This quote compares all of the African Americans coming down the street to a large black river running through the town. • Pg. 169 – It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house! – This quote comes from the chapter “There Will Come Soft Rains” and describes how the house left on Earth is alive in its own sense even after the apocalyptic war. This quote gives the house the ability to quiver or shake when even an animal would touch it. Giving human traits, qualities, feelings, actions, or characteristics to non-living objects • Pg. 171 – “Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed the color of drapes! – This quote also comes from the chapter "There Will Come Soft Rains" and describes how the fire is spreading throughout the house after it caught fire do to chemicals spilling onto the stove. This quote gives the fire the ability to lie in beds, stand in windows, and change the color of the drapes in the house. the correspondence of consonant sounds, especially those at the end of a word •Pg. 5 – “’Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will leave a pledge with mine,’” she sang, softly, quietly, slowly. - This quote comes from the chapter “Ylla” and is a song that Ylla sings after she begins having dreams about Earth men coming to mars. This consonance stresses the “ly” sound. • Pg. 28 – “But once you’ve gone this far, I must point out, with primary, secondary, auditory, olfactory, and labial hallucinations…” – This quote comes from the chapter “The earth Men,” and is a list of all the types of hallucinations that Mr. Xxx believes that the humans are creating causing him to kill them and himself in the end. This consonace stresses the “ry” sound. the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. Symbolism •The Planet of Mars – This serves as a symbol for many different things in the story. Throughout most of the novel, it represents the new form of frontier that the people of earth are moving to expand into. It can also be seen as a symbol of the great destruction that the human race can cause as all of the martians are wiped out by the humans. •The Rockets - These symbolize how the human race is becoming more advanced and expanding to new lands through the use of furthered technology. •The Humans – Symbolize a conquering force that begins by slowly scoping out a new land and then quickly sending many people there to indirectly take over by colonization •The Martians – Symbolize a weaker people that can easily be affected by the people of earth as they are eventually all wiped out by them. •Family at the End of the Novel – These people now symbolize the new Martians as they are the only ones left on mars, and they will be the ones who will have to start the new Martian race. Conflicts Conflict is the struggle between the opposing forces on which the action in a work of literature depends Man vs. Self Man vs. Man Man vs. Society Society vs. Society Society vs. Destiny Captain Wilder vs. Himself - This conflict occurs because of the incident that his crew has with Spender. This internal conflict comes while the Captain must decide whether or not to pull the trigger and kill Spender. Ylla vs. Herself - This conflict occurs because of the many reoccuring dreams that she has about the Earth men coming to Mars. This conflict comes when she must decide whether or not to believe what she is thinking about the coming of these men. Little Boy at the End of the Novel vs. Himself - This conflict occurs because of his realization that he and his family are now the new Martians, and that they will create the new Martian race. This conflict comes when he must battle all of these thoughts inside his head at once. Captain Williams vs. Mr. Xxx - This conflict occurs because Mr. Xxx does not believe that they are truly from Earth and that they are just hallucinations that can be gotten rid of. This conflict comes when Williams and his crew are killed by Mr. Xxx before he takes his own life. Young Negro Boy (Silly) vs. Mr. Teece - This conflict occurs because Silly wishes to leave to go to Mars with all the rest of the African Americans but Mr. Teece does not want to let him because he still wants him to complete his work. This conflict comes when Silly tries to to convince Teece that he should be allowed to go on the Rockets. Spender vs. Biggs - This conflict occurs because of how Spender feels that Biggs is not resepecting the planet at all when they arrive by throwing a party and trying to make as much noise as possible. This conflict comes when Spender first punches Biggs in the mouth, and then a week later returns to the camp and shoots him. Spender vs. The World Society - This conflict occurs because Spender is focused on preserving Mars the way that it is, but he knows that the world's people will just come up and make it their own and destroy it. This conflict comes when he kills off half of his crewmates and then runs until he is finally killed by Captain Wilder. Captain Williams and his Men vs. The Martians - This conflict occus because when he and his crew arrive on mars, he expects there to be a big welcome party, however, no one wants to believe them that they are from earth. This conflict comes when Williams and his men try to convince many defferent Martians that they are indeed fom Earth and that they are not crazy. The People of Earth vs. The Martians - This conflict occurs because the people of Earth continue to arrive on Mars even though all the first expeditions were killed off or lost because of the Martians. This conflict comes all throughout the story, until the people of Earth finally kill off all of the Martians and become the new Martians themselves. People of Earth vs. Their Destiny - This conflict occurs because back on Earth the people have successfully weakened the society to the point that the world is eventually destroyed beause of war and now they must expand to a new land. This conflict comes when the people of Earth move to Mars to take control and destroy everything foreign there, only to return to Earth and be wiped out by war. The Martian People vs. Their Destiny - This conflict occurs because of the influence of the people of Earth coming to mars an then taking over the planet and eventually killing off all of the Martians with Chicken Pox. This conflict comes when the People of Earth fully expand onto mars and successfully wipe out the entire martian race. Point of View Third Person narrative - This view has an outside person telling the story of the colonization of Mars. It could be said that the narrator had compiled all of the data on the colonization of the planet and is telling it to the reader. This could only be accomplished in this view. It also allows for closer examination of the characters that can only be achieved in a third person narrative piece. Structure •This story is structured as a collection of short stories that work together to display a central story that all of them revolve around. It is based on the colonization of Mars through the many different efforts of the humans and the counter efforts by the Martian people. Setting Earth Mars The planet Earth is one of the two main settings in the novel. This is the home of all of the people who are trying to get away from their lives and the impending war, and want to go start a new life on Mars. After many years on Mars, all of the people except for those left behind return home for the war that in the end destroys all of the life on Earth and the people along with it. The Planet Mars is the other main setting that is present in the novel. This planet is the one that is constantly being consumed and taken over by the people of Earth throughout the novel despite the actions of the Martian people. In the end, it is left as a barren planet that is left with no forms of life except for the humans that were left behind from when the rockets returned to Earth.